Spoils
by mostlypsychotic
Summary: Following the massacre of the Dark Brotherhood, Babette finds Nazir alive in the wreckage. For once, the two most self-assured of the group are completely lost.


He was lucky to be alive, he told himself as he lay in the clearing. Behind the skull-adorned door, he could still hear a soft crackling as his sanctuary burned. And with it...he groaned now, forcing himself to roll onto his back and feel the rain falling on his face.

Nobody had survived. Arnbjorn had done his best, even using his wolf form to do so, but the guards had been too much for him. Astrid was quickly overtaken, and vanished soon after the invasion. Festus had been struck by a falling rock, and Gabriella slain by a guard. Even poor Veezara had fallen, just trying to protect his family as he always had. And the newcomer, the Listener...she had almost escaped with him. He could have sworn she was on his heels, but she had simply _disappeared_. It was such a shame, too. She had such potential...

"Nazir?"

His eyes opened, not entirely sure if he had just heard correctly. It had certainly sounded like that familiar little voice, but there was no way...

"Nazir! Oh, you're _alive_!"

Two little hands clamped down on one of his, and he turned his head to find Babette smiling down at him, uncharacteristic tears in her eyes. He forced himself to sit up and wrapped an arm around the vampire, pulling her in for their first hug in a long time.

"Babette..." he sighed, his gaze roaming back to the door. The girl pulled back to look as well, shaking her head sadly.

"You're the only other one who lived, aren't you? I was...worried," she trailed off, taking a seat beside him and leaning on her hands. "It's hard to kill a vampire."

_The Listener killed a vampire_, Nazir thought bitterly, though he only nodded. "I thought you were dead, even so," he said aloud. "Everyone else is dead."

"It's always hard to lose a family," Babette sighed. "I've lost plenty, considering, but it's never easy." The Redguard nodded, listening as something else within the sanctuary collapsed. Suddenly, the girl next to him sat up, her brow furrowed as she focused on the door.

"We need to go in there," she said abruptly, standing up and pointing at it. "Come on, I'll need your help."

"Go _in_? Are you crazy?" Nazir shot back, holding out a hand. "I'm not sure if you remember, but the place is _exploding_."

"Not anymore. The Listener's alive. I can sense it." Now the man stood up, striding towards the door even as he spoke.

"How would you know?" he asked, prying the door open and coughing as smoke billowed out. He was surprised to find that besides that immediate burst, the place had finally become quiet, save for Babette's rushed steps ahead of him.

"She has a very...distinct aura about her," she explained, her focus mainly on following it. "Not surprising, considering she's Dragonborn." She paused, glancing behind her to find that Nazir looked even more stunned than before. "Don't tell me you didn't know _that_, either?"

"Sorry," Nazir muttered irritably, looking around the main room as the two entered. "Where is she, then? There's nothing here but..." He went silent as Babette broke into a run again, this time towards the all-too-familiar cylinder by the water. "Oh, _no_..."

"She's in there," the vampire confirmed, gesturing at the Night Mother's coffin. The front was blocked off by a few large rocks, but the coffin itself seemed to be intact. "Get these out of the way, will you? I won't be able to, as you could guess..."

"You want me to _move _those damn things so that we can look at some dead women?"

"Just one. The Listener took refuge inside, and the coffin held up against damage, as you can see. She's alive, I keep telling you. Now, move those rocks."

"I am _not _Arnbjorn," Nazir grunted, shoving all his weight against the top rock and pushing it off of the pile. He had never been particularly strong, and it wasn't like he had ever had any reason to be. He was an _assassin, _not some hired muscle. He groaned loudly as another rock tumbled from the pile, and Babette clapped her hands together excitedly.

"They're coming loose! Keep pushing!"

"I...don't see you...helping, you...little...she-devil!" the Redguard muttered between pushes, though watching the door to the coffin become more visible was a bit satisfying. The vampire giggled, taking a step nearer as they came to the last boulder.

"I wouldn't be much use in this body of mine," she pointed out, watching Nazir shove the last bit of wreckage aside and open the coffin. Sure enough, the Listener was standing shell-shocked inside, her body trembling a little as her eyes adjusted to the light again.

"Take it slow," Nazir advised her as she stumbled out of the coffin, shaking her head as the memories returned to her. "Are you alright? I imagine it was quite the fall you took, to end up here..."

"I'm fine," the Dragonborn replied cautiously, returning to her senses and gesturing outward. "Astrid is in here, somewhere. We need to find her."

"Astrid?" Nazir echoed, watching her brush past and hurry deeper into the sanctuary. "I thought-"

"We should follow her," Babette cut him off, the worry deep in her face as she began after the Listener. "If she's right...this won't end well."

By the time they did find her again, she had already been talking to what was left of Astrid. Nazir's breath caught in his throat as he took in his leader's charred but still very much alive body, pulled lopsidedly into the center of the circle of candles. All he heard was her begging the Listener to kill her, and the Listener agreeing, reluctant as it was.

Babette hadn't looked away from a kill since she was _actually _a child. But this time, she could only watch the dagger glint in the dim light before she squeezed her eyes shut and merely listened as Astrid cried out, thanked her killer, and spoke no more. The Listener was silent for a moment, simply looking down at the body before excusing herself and returning to the coffin. Only when she had disappeared did the vampire dare to speak.

"Can you believe Astrid did this...?" she asked softly, taking a seat on the stone bench nearby. Nazir exhaled loudly, taking a seat beside her and removing his headdress.

"I'm having a harder time believing that she's dead," he admitted.

"What are we going to do? We'll have to go to Dawnstar. Maybe if we clean up that sanctuary, and find some new recruits, we could-"

"New recruits?" Nazir echoed bitterly, shaking his head. "Babette, it's _over_. We can't build up from three. Perhaps we can leave Skyrim altogether. We can't stay here, people know who we are. There's just no way we can fit into society."

"And we don't _have _to," the girl insisted, taking his hand in both of hers again. "Nazir, we have the _Listener_. And Listener or not, she can lead us! She's proven that. Don't you think so?" The Redguard was quiet, lost in his own thoughts as footsteps resounded from the path behind them. The Dragonborn in question returned to them, her face cold but her eyes softer than before.

"The contract is still on," she said simply, before pulling the cowl over her face and continuing out of the ruins. Nazir stood as well, holding out a hand to help Babette to her feet.

"Let's go," he said, returning his headdress to its rightful place before beginning after their new leader. Babette frowned, hurrying to catch up as her 'brother' opened the door again.

"Where?"

"To the Dawnstar sanctuary."


End file.
